Went to Yaroslavl this weekend, as it was Anthony's birthday, the day after pay-day, and we had Monday off (Men's Day).

Actually we had meant to go to Nizhy Novgorod but that didn't happen. Although the city has been called Nizhy Novgorod for a decade, no-one has told the Russian train network which still refers to it as Gorky, its old Soviet name. So what with that and Anthony getting temporarily detained by the police for having an out-of-date visa (not true, but at least this time it was a genuine mistake not an attempt to swindle money out of us), our chances of catching the Nizhy train were slim.

By the way, Anthony has since shaved off his beard so he looks slightly less like a Chechen terrorist. Hopefully this will reduce the number of times the police stop him - he's well into double figures now. The other day he stopped and asked a policeman for directions - big mistake. Can I see your papers? Are you carrying any knives? Could you accompany me to the police station? Could you pay me a bribe?

So, anyway, we caught the first coach out of Moscow, which, four and a half hours later, dropped us in Yaroslavl. Capital of, obviously, Yaroslavl region. Not bad for a random destination as it is a historic city (part of the 'Golden Ring', with almost no Soviet blocks of flats, and it's by the (currently frozen) river Volga. Plus provincial prices which saw us paying the equivalent of 7 quid per person per night for a hotel room. Maybe they were ripping us off for being foreigners, I don't know.

This was also the first mild weekend of the year, with the temperature reaching a positively tropical +3 degrees. Phew, better get the sun tan lotion.

Caught the train back. I think we bought the wrong tickets as we ended up on the sleeper train, in a little compartment, with our own beds. This for a four-hour train journey! A little excessive.